


Taste of Home

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: A little angst, Bones is a little homesick and takes it out on the crew, Christmas fic, and then so much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 06:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Based on the prompt: “Character A overhears Character B’s Christmas wish and decides to fulfill it”





	Taste of Home

A crash from exam room two had every head in Medbay turned up to watch as an exasperated Leonard McCoy kneeled down to pick up the tools scattered across the floor. His foot connected with the tricorder, sending it skidding away from him. He stood, lips pursed, and rolled his his shoulders and neck. It was supposed to help him calm down, but the creaking of his bones only reminded him of how much he’d been working. How much he’d been missing.

Leonard opened his eyes at the sound of shuffling in front of him and Christine offered him the tricorder without any of her usual snark. Leonard wondered briefly how tired he must look. “Thank you,” he mumbled before making an excuse about paperwork in his office.

Once inside, Leonard dropped the tricorder on his desk and hunched down over it. It didn’t respond to his touch, so with a clenched jaw and rising heart rate, he set to work trying to fix it. He must have gone through a dozen videos on fixing tricorders and was still no closer to reviving it. He mimicked the man in the video tightening a screw, expecting the screen to light up but receiving a nasty shock again.

Leonard succumbed to the rage for a moment and hurled the tricorder across the room. The office door slid open as the it sailed through the air, colliding with the door frame and missing Jim’s face by mere inches.

“I know I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think that’s how those work.”

Bones glared at Jim before deciding an argument wasn’t worth it. “I’m not in the mood, Captain.” He sat back at his desk and hoped that would be enough of hint for Jim to leave. Of course, it wasn’t.

Jim sat down in the chair across from Bones, propping his feet up on the desk and ignoring the pointed glare he received in response. “Good thing I’m not here as the captain then.”

“Then why are you here? You seem to be in perfect health. For now.” Bones reached across the desk to shove Jim’s feet off, but Jim’s damn smile didn’t even falter.

“Cause I’m your friend. Friends need a reason to see each other now?”

Bones sighed, running a hand through his already messy hair. “No. I’m sorry. I…I don’t know. I think I’m gettin’ restless being cooped up on this damn ship so long.”

“Hm,” Jim replied. “Didn’t expect you to apologize so this is awkward.” Bones raised an eyebrow in response, and Jim fidgeted like a child caught in a lie. “I might have hypothetically come here not to see you but to see the cute new Engineer I called to come fix your tricorder Hypothetically.”

“Of course,” Bones snorted.

Although you wore the tell-tale red uniform of an Engineer, you specialized in medical equipment repair, which meant you spent most of your time in your workshop or in Medbay, tinkering away at whatever machinery was malfunctioning. It also meant you got to spend plenty of time getting to know a certain grumpy CMO. You tried your best to keep the relationship professional, but that didn’t stop your heart from jumping to your throat every time you got called up to Medbay.

You heard Leonard’s voice before you saw him, letting it guide you like a pilgrim to the altar as you approached his office. You stopped to savor the sound.

“A Christmas party will definitely not brighten my mood.” Even through the door, you could tell Bones was scowling.

“Come on, Bones. I bet we could get Scotty to hack the replicator to make some eggnog, and I’ve got a bottle of rum stashed away. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a good time.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Then what does sound good?” Silence followed. You stood closer to the door, trying to hear Bones’ answer but it didn’t come. “I’m trying to help, Bones, but I can’t do that if you don’t tell me what you want.”

“What I want is to see my daughter. To go home. To finally be off this stupid metal death trap careening through space.”

“I put a request in for shore leave. What else do you want me to do?”

“I want you to get out of my office.”

“Fine,” Jim snapped. You heard the creak of a chair as he stood and did your best to duck out of the way. Luckily, Jim stormed out of the office without a glance in your direction.

You poked your head in the doorway, eyeing Bones as he leaned over his desk, head in hands. You cleared your throat and he looked up. “I’m just gonna…” You picked up a small box with the remnants of what was once a tricorder. With a small smile, you rushed back out of the office, wishing your brain wouldn’t freeze up every time you so much as looked at Bones when all you wanted to do was help him. There had to be something that would cheer him up.

With a sigh, you dumped the tricorder corpse onto your desk, hands immediately getting to work while your mind wandered to Bones, conjuring up daydreams of clandestine meetings in storage closets between shifts or holding hands on the beach during the next shore leave. Dreams of meeting his family and chasing his daughter through a field of wildflowers or camping together under a summer sky in Georgia. Even if it was just a fantasy, you felt a pang of homesickness, and, for a second, you had a glimpse of what Bones must be feeling. You also had an idea of how to help him.

The plan took longer than anticipated, and by now it was damn near Christmas. The tricorder had long since been returned, and you and Bones continued to skirt the edges of romance, each of you waiting for the other to make the first move. Unable to find the words to tell Bones how you felt, you decided tonight was the night to show him.

He was just getting of a double shift in Medbay, stumbling back to his room like the zombie he felt like. Bones punched in the room code, ready to fall onto any flat surface, but freezing on the spot when the doors slid open and you stood before him in your civvies.

Bones closed his eyes and shook his head, expecting you to disappear when he opened them again but you stood firmly in his way. “Did I fall asleep on my desk again,” he murmured, taking you in. Your hair tumbled down to your shoulders, resting on a dark flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to your elbows. There was a slight sheen of sweat on your forehead and a blush rising to your cheeks as Bones reached out to you, thumb caressing your jaw. You really were a dream to him.

A slightly hysterical laugh slipped past your lips as you fought against your fight or flight response. “No, you’re not asleep. Unless we’re both having the same dream.”

“‘s a good one so far.”

“Well, it’s about to get better. Close your eyes.” Bones obeyed without question, squeezing your hand as you linked your fingers with his. You led him into his own room and pushed him gently down onto the couch.

“I’ve definitely had this dream before,” he said, reaching out to place his hands on your waist.

You jumped back, grabbing his other hand with yours and holding them both in place while your brain short-circuited looking for a response. All you could do was laugh again and let Bones’ hands fall to his lap. “Don’t open your eyes yet.”

He sucked in a breath as he heard your footsteps retreating. “That laugh might just kill me,” he breathed out. He leaned back against the couch as he waited for you to return.

You weren’t sure how long you watched him. Some people might have been annoyed that he fell asleep that quickly, but you could have stood there all night. He was like a statue carved from marble by divine hands, jaw set and strong, mouth turned up into a half-smile in his sleep. One arm was thrown over the back of the couch, leaving the vast expanse of his chest open for you to snuggle up against. He would probably be warm. Like a furnace. Hot enough to burn -

“Fuck,” you cursed, dropping the pie tin in your hand. You sucked your fingers into your mouth. Bones sat up straight, bewildered as he took in his surroundings before his eyes fell on you and the pie now at his feet. You cursed again as you bent down to pick it up. “Glad I made two,” you said, but your voice was far away to Bones, who stood up and stepped around you.

His eyes were transfixed on the contraption behind you. It looked like a makeshift fire pit built out of scrap metal and old paper scraps. A projector stood beside it, aimed up at the ceiling but not powered on. Bones turned to you for some explanation and his eye caught the flower display on the table. A bouquet of paper wildflowers with a Cherokee Rose dead center. He ran a hand over the petals and it felt almost like silk.

“I’ve never actually been to Georgia,” you admitted, “But that’s what all the guides say is the state flower.” You held out a plate to him with a slice of pecan pie. He stared at it and then you again. “If you don’t like it, I can also get you some cobbler. I reprogrammed the replicator to-”

Bones cut you off by throwing his arms around you. He buried his face in your neck, releasing a shaky breath that cascaded like a warm wind down your skin. You hugged him back as best you could with two hands full of pie, trying to comfort him as his shoulders started to shake. He pulled himself together quickly, pinching the bridge of his nose to dam the tears. “Thank you for this.”

“Oh, don’t thank me yet,” you smiled, handing him a piece of pie, “we haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

You all but skipped back into the living area, taking two couch cushions and tossing them on the floor by the fire pit. With the few button presses, the fire and projector both kicked to life. Bones stood, neck craned up to the ceiling as he took a bite of pie.

You patted the cushion next to you. “It’ll be easier if you lie down.”

“Mm, sugar, you can’t just say things like that,” Bones teased as he put his plate on the floor and settled down next to you. Your legs brushed, sending a shock up your body and putting your brain on red alert again. You grabbed the PADD next to you and shut the lights off to hide your nerves.

The room was plunged into near darkness, lifted only by the small fire crackling by your feet and the stars smattered against the ceiling. Bones stared in awe.

“That’s…”

“Cepheus,” you offered. “And Lynx over there.” You pointed to a patch of stars near the Big Dipper.

“No, that’s…that’s the view from my parents’ house. How did you…” Bones’ voice trailed off again as he turned his head to look at you. You shrugged.

“I called your parents and told them you were homesick. They said you used to stargaze whenever you got restless.”

“Yeah, it…It was Jo’s favorite. She could name damn near every constellation before her sixth birthday. Said one day she’d join me up here.”

“Oh,” you said, shooting up straight, “that reminds me.” Bones watched you jam a few buttons on your PADD before handing it over to him. The screen lit up as a video call connected. You weren’t sure who was holding their breath harder, you or Leonard.

Bones exhaled first, laughing as the call finally connected, revealing Jo’s smiling face beaming up on him. She sat on his parents’ porch, wrapped in a sweater and a blanket. She turned the camera up to the sky. “See Daddy! We’re not that far apart! I can see the same stars as you.”

His shoulders shook as he covered a sob with another laugh. “You’re right, pumpkin. Can you remind me what they’re all called?”

Jo let out a tired sigh, as if she were the adult and Leonard the child gnawing on her patience. “Did you forget again, Daddy?”

“Well, I can’t help that you got all the brains. I’ll do my best to remember this time.”

“Fine,” Jo said, turning the camera back to the sky. Her small hand poked into frame, pointing at a collection of stars. “This one’s Gemini because it looks like two people. That one’s the Big Dipper, because it looks like a spoon. The Little Dipper looks like a spoon, too, but it’s little. That’s why it’s called the Little Dipper.” Jo continued her explanation and Bones set the PADD beside him, watching the ceiling as if Jo were beside him. Tears reflected the light in his eyes, making them look like a galaxy you wanted to get lost in.

Suddenly, his eyes shifted to you, the brightest star in the room. He slipped his hand in yours and mouthed the words “Thank you.” You simply smiled in response, shifting closer to him. The fire crackled beside you and the smell of roasted pecans filled the room as Jo continued her explanation, and, while he didn’t consider himself a very religious person, Bones finally caught a glimpse of his personal heaven.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
